An unattended grilled cheese sandwich cooking on a stove top caught fire and caused a blaze that damaged three homes in the 200 block of Lehman Street on Thursday afternoon, said Lebanon Fire Commissioner Duane Trautman.

Witnesses saw the fire send smoke high into the sky with balls of flames shooting out the back of the home. Firefighters were dispatched at 1:40 p.m., and it was a fully-involved structure fire by the time they arrived, Trautman said. It had also spread to the neighboring properties at 215 and 219 Lehman St.